When is World Book Day?

I look after communications and marketing at Dairy Diary. I’m a busy mum and love home baking and cooking for my family. In my spare time I enjoy visiting the theatre, eating out with friends and exploring the great outdoors!

World Book Day takes place each year on the first Thursday of March.

In 2024, this will be Thursday 7th March.

World Book Day is a charity whose mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

Since it was first celebrated in the UK and Ireland over 25 years ago, the day has grown to become an essential calendar fixture in schools. It focuses on reading for pleasure and encouraging a habit of reading that brings a wide range of benefits.

Dressing up for World Book Day

If you are a parent or grandparent you may have experienced the joy (or dread depending on your viewpoint) of helping your children dress up as their favourite book character.

Costumes don’t have to be expensive, shop-bought ones. With a little imagination (or a trawl of the internet) and a few props, your little one can be transformed. How about making a simple golden ticket and sending your child in scruffy clothes to be Charlie (of the Chocolate Factory fame) or have they got an animal onesie they can utilise to go as a character from the Jungle Book?

This is my little Saucepan Man (Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree) with a few foil covered utensils and and Alice in Wonderland with a roughly sewn apron. Lovely memories to look back on.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go”.

I loved reading as a child and still do, although when life gets busy I am guilty of falling asleep after a few lines and having to read the same bit over and over again! The adventures of the children climbing the Magic Faraway Tree in the Enchanted Wood created by Enid Blyton or the amazing characters dreamed up by Roald Dahl are fondly remembered.

It is widely accepted that there are a huge number of benefits to reading for pleasure for both children and adults. Strengthening brain activity, boosting communication skills, enhancing imagination and creativity and lowering stress to name just a few!

However, an alarming statistic, from a survey conducted by the National Literacy Trust, states that almost one in five children between the ages of five and eight do not have a book of their own at home. Fewer than 3 in 10 children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they read daily.

During the first spring lockdown, children and young people’s enjoyment of reading did increase. However, data from 2021 shows that these gains weren’t sustained.

So the World Book Day’s mission of promoting reading for pleasure by offering every child and young person the opportunity to choose and own a book is so important.

Take a look at the WORLD BOOK DAY WEBSITE for more information.

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.”

The Dairy Diary – more than just a diary!

Dairy Diary is well known for containing informative articles which makes the book a great read in addition to being a great diary! Over the years articles have ranged widely and this year contains fabulous articles on everlasting flowers, wild swimming, creating a potager garden, forests, foraging and more!